Undeniably, the hair factor has made more people conscious about their image, than was the case earlier. A hair in the wrong place, too many hair strands out of line or any such hairy affair can no longer be dismissed casually. And this raises the question. Well, too many hair-splitting issues are involved to answer this question without deliberating on at least a few. Hair, by itself, has gained greater importance than ever in recent years, even in sports.
David Beckham can be called as the trend setter. He has been experimenting with his hair and all the styles have suited him the best. As a footballer, you need to stand out in the field as it becomes difficult to find out who is where while watching the match in a stadium.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, our Indian cricket captain, did have his share and so did many of the Indian Super League footballers, and now it is the turn of the Indian basketball players. The ongoing UBA Professional Basketball League is no different as one can witness at least one player in very team has something to show off, and that is his unique hairstyle.
In Bollywood, Dev Anand gave utmost importance to his hairstyle throughout his career. As he gained stature and grew in years, his hair played the role of making him look younger and sending the message that Dev Anand was moving ahead at an accelerating pace in life on and off the screen.
A combination of boredom, vanity, has given a different colour to basketball, and maybe even the influence of sponsors means that players are becoming more daring with their styles.
“I love that, I like it. Why not it is fun looking different. This is my own style,” said Sachin Sharma of the Delhi Capitals. “I am a fan Michael Jordan, he had his style, completely shaved, I like this way, and there could be many others in different hairstyle.”
Nigerian Agu of Chennai is another player who does look different from other players.
“That is what I want to look like, and there is no one emphasizing on me to have a certain style. I feel each athlete has to freedom. Thank God, there are no restrictions by the laws of the game,” said Agu.
“I am basketballer, but when it comes to hairstyle in look at Chris Gayle, the West Indian cricketer,” said Edwin, the Hyderabad Sky’s striker. “That is the way I like to look different and that has nothing to do with my game,” added Edwin.
Over an year ago, there was controversy at the 5th FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China when 2 Indian Sikh players were asked to remove their turbans before entering the court. It was only after they removed their turbans, were they allowed to play.
However, that seems a thing of the past and players can now flaunt any hairstyle they want on the court, provided they are within the rules. A plethora of stars in UBA would be relieved with this news as they can sport their unconventional hairstyles with aplomb.
A few other snaps of players sporting out of the ordinary hairdos:
